Bobcats coach: I see improvements even in the losing

Charlotte's Ben Gordon, right, is fouled as he drives into Philadelphia's Lavoy Allen, left, during the first half in Charlotte on Friday.

The Associated Press

By Richard Walker

Published: Friday, November 30, 2012 at 09:57 PM.

CHARLOTTE – For the Charlotte Bobcats, the current three-game losing streak matches the season’s longest and is probably the kind of slump many expected from the team this season.

But with a 7-8 record after Friday’s 104-98 home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, first-year coach Mike Dunlap is hardly discouraged.

“We’ve had a couple of grind-em-out games,” said Dunlap, whose team’s 6-4 start was the fastest in franchise history before dropping four of its last five. “I see the improvements even in the losing.”

And while the 76ers (10-6) are considered a probable postseason team, they afforded the Bobcats the opportunity for victory that Charlotte has had with surprising frequency this season.

With Philadelphia playing without center Andrew Bynum, it looked an awful lot like the chances the Bobcats have had – and taken advantage of – so far this season. After all, the Bobcats played Indiana without Danny Granger, Dallas twice without Dirk Nowitzki, Minnesota without Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio and Washington twice without John Wall.

But, as Dunlap noted, Friday’s game came down to a couple of key plays his team simply didn’t make.

CHARLOTTE – For the Charlotte Bobcats, the current three-game losing streak matches the season’s longest and is probably the kind of slump many expected from the team this season.

But with a 7-8 record after Friday’s 104-98 home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, first-year coach Mike Dunlap is hardly discouraged.

“We’ve had a couple of grind-em-out games,” said Dunlap, whose team’s 6-4 start was the fastest in franchise history before dropping four of its last five. “I see the improvements even in the losing.”

And while the 76ers (10-6) are considered a probable postseason team, they afforded the Bobcats the opportunity for victory that Charlotte has had with surprising frequency this season.

With Philadelphia playing without center Andrew Bynum, it looked an awful lot like the chances the Bobcats have had – and taken advantage of – so far this season. After all, the Bobcats played Indiana without Danny Granger, Dallas twice without Dirk Nowitzki, Minnesota without Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio and Washington twice without John Wall.

But, as Dunlap noted, Friday’s game came down to a couple of key plays his team simply didn’t make.

“We just have to address it and it can be better,” Dunlap said of a defense that yielded 51.2 percent shooting and 56 points in the paint. “You’d like everything to be married perfectly. But that’s the frustration of it. And there were a handful of frustrations.”

In addition to the high shooting percentage – Philly was at 60 percent well into the third quarter – the 76ers snagged seven of their 13 offensive rebounds during a fourth quarter that saw Charlotte close within one point and have a shot to take the lead.

“If we can’t score, we’ve got to find a way to get stops,” said Ben Gordon, who led the Bobcats with 19 points off the bench. “We didn’t get enough of those tonight.”

For Philadelphia, Evan Turner had 25 points and former Bobcat Jason Richardson 22. Richardson scored 14 in the fourth quarter, getting 12 of them on four huge 3-pointers.

Notes: Gerald Henderson has missed 13 straight games with a strained left foot and it appears it could miss a few more. “He’s doing stuff during the day,” coach Mike Dunlap said of Henderson’s rehabilitation efforts. “There’s no timetable. We’re going off how he’s feeling.” Dunlap later said Henderson could’ve played Friday night, but he wants the 6-foot-5 guard who was last year’s leading scorer to be 100 percent before he’s put back in action….

Bobcats probably disappointed with a crowd of 13,202 on a Friday night, but many stuck around to the bitter end – and cheered wildly when Kemba Walker hit 3-pointer for the game’s final margin with 1.5 seconds left. The reason? Bobcats announced at start of fourth quarter than if they hit even one 3-pointer, all fans at Friday’s game got free tickets for Monday’s game with Portland….

Friday’s game was the first of seven home games the Bobcats will play in 16 days. They remain home Monday against Portland and Wednesday against New York before visiting Milwaukee next Friday. Other home games in the current home stretch are San Antonio (Dec. 8), Golden State (Dec. 10), L.A. Clippers (Dec. 12) and Orlando (Dec. 15).